Urban Rivals Tales
by MassX
Summary: Copyright Notice: I don't own any product made by Urban Rivals and this is entirely fiction. No animals were harmed in the making of this fanfic.


Urban Rivals Tales (An Urban Rivals Fanfic)

Part 1: Kharl's Story…

It had all began innocently enough. Kharl the contortionist used to watch from the shadows the high-wire act of Diyo with avid determination. One may question Kharl's motives as to why he would do such a thing but you see, Diyo was everything Kharl was not. He was strong, nimble and athletic, able to grace the skies above with his high-wire hi-jinks and stun the crowd with his death-defying balancing acts. Also, Diyo was blue and that was also an attention getter. Kharl ignored the applause from the audience and held his breath, waiting for the person he really wanted to see.

After Diyo went off to the side, the lights dimmed down and a spotlight shone on the backdrop of the black and red-striped circus tent. In the spotlight was a gorgeous young-looking woman with pale skin and blue hair. She was sitting in a round circle that was held to the top of the ring with a wire. This was the lovely Maamoon, the person Kharl had been waiting to see. Wether it was the fact she was beautiful in his eyes or that he felt he and her were destined to be, Kharl could not say. In fact, he could not say much but watch with somewhat saddened bliss as Maamoon started her act on the round trapeze.

"You ain't got a chance with her, mate," stated a voice Kharl knew only too well.

Kharl turned his head after a second and he had to force himself to look away from the girl he secretly adored. The person who spoke gruffly was Crassus, the main clown (and only clown for that matter) in the Freaks Circus. With a cigar in his mouth and bowler hat upon his head, the colourful clown appeared to smirk cruelly with a twisted grin. But, with his make-up on, Kharl was unsure if it was just the clown get up or Crassus who was really grinning. Crassus was not really a friend of anyone because like they knew how to push his buttons, he knew how to push theirs.

"Why do ya say that?" asked Kharl while turning back to look at Maamoon who was upside down hanging by her feet on the trapeze ring.

"Because, you are ugly. Not only that, she never comes down for anything. Not even Diyo can get to her," muttered Crassus with his usual gravelled voice.

At this, Kharl snapped back to what Crassus was saying and gazed away once again from Maamoon.

"What's Diyo got ta do with all this?" asked Kharl angrily.

"Nothing. But I just wondered how you'd react," stated Crassus heartily as he puffed out his cigar smoke as the audience cheered and he walked away onto the ring to do his act.

Kharl watched Crassus walk away into the ring and gazed up at where the spotlight was that had Maamoon in it. He knew she was still there, hidden in the darkness. He could only dream or think what she might be thinking. Yet, it all seemed so useless.

'Crassus is right. Why would a girl like her hang out with a freak like me? What's the point?' thought Kharl to himself as he felt his heart sink to his stomach and turned away from the laughter of the audience that was watching Crassus as Kharl left the main tent.

Outside it was dark, it seemed somewhat darker to Kharl. The Freaks Circus was playing some hick town on the outskirts of Clint City. Ever since they were no longer able to perform within City Limits, the Freaks Circus became a travelling act instead of a one-town (or in this case city) circus.

With the laughter drifting from his ears with every step he took, Kharl made his way back to the admissions booth, which is where he worked when not in the Freak Show as The Gruesome Contortionist. Sighing slightly to himself as he put on his Attendant hat, Kharl closed the booth door behind him and glanced at the faded poster of Maamoon that was inside his booth. This Admission Booth was also Kharl's home and trailer, one of Boris's brilliant ideas.

_"Why put you in a new trailer or cage, my boy? It is far better and less expensive to put you into the place where you will be working,"_ Boris had stated as Kharl was signed up to the circus.

Kharl had agreed with this, he was used to being in a small place. Larger areas made him feel cold and uncomfortable and being a contortionist Kharl was able to be happy in a small and cramped area. Being hunched over regularly because he was too tall if he stood up straight, Kharl gazed out and up at the stars from his windowpane that was at the front of the booth.

On occasions Kharl used to think of what may happen if he and Maamoon fled the circus and lived their lives happily together. It was a wonderful yet secret desire of Kharl's though he knew it might never come true.

What made things worse was that there was a full moon out tonight, making Kharl keep on thinking about Maamoon. Kharl was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he did not hear the growling sound until suddenly a savage beast appeared in front of his window.

Shouting out in fright, Kharl awkwardly stepped back, making him tumble against the back wall of the attendant booth.

The creature in front of Kharl seemed to grin, dripping salvia from its mouth as its teeth curled back in a snarl. Kharl was able to see the creature because of the light that was on top of the Attendant's Booth that was aiming downwards.

"Oh, stop it Armand," stated a voice with an Indian accent.

Suddenly, the werewolf stopped snarling and seemed to have a deep-throat chuckle at Kharl's whimpering form in the booth. It was at this point Kharl noticed another figure come up to the booth. It was a large fat woman with black hair and some bangles on her wrists and in her ears as earrings.

The creature glanced at the Indian woman.

"I'm just having a little fun with this Freak, Ratanah" growled out the werewolf known as Armand.

"Still, that is no way to treat others," stated the Indian woman known as Ratanah. "We are here to bring Peace, not War."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. But I want to party," stated Armand, his wolfish grin turning to a horrible frown.

"And party you shall, Armand. While the moon is full, you have to learn to control yourself," stated another voice and a third figure came out of the darkness into the light. The figure was a tall gangly man whom Kharl knew as Shakra. Once a Sword Swallower for the Freaks Circus, Shakra left the circuit and eventually found what he called "enlightenment" with the Roots Activists Group or R.A.G for short. Kharl had not been happy to see Shakra leaving the circus because Shakra was as close a friend Kharl had gotten. But, those days were over now.

Kharl had gotten up and went up towards the window, feeling slightly uneasy by Armand but had gotten over his scare.

"What exactly are you three doing here?" asked Kharl, feeling a little animosity towards the three members of the Roots Activists Group.

Shakra and Ratanah seemed to sense the slight hostile tone in Kharl's voice.

"We are merely here to watch the show," said Armand as he growled lowly, his wolf ears flattened back slightly.

Ratanah coughed lightly and Armand grumbled, crossing his hairy arms across his chest. He picked up a keg of beer and hauled it under his arm easily.

"And we have some business with Boris…private business," stated Shakra politely, which caught Kharl off-guard.

Kharl was a sentimental Freak at heart.

"Okay, but no funny business," muttered Kharl as he handed the three their tickets and they gave him the Clintz to pay for the tickets.

Kharl watched as the three members of the Roots Activists Group walked away from the attendant booth towards the main big top.

Kharl was starting to feel uneasy. He knew that something was up and something would happen…soon. But after a few minutes of silence, Kharl wondered if he was being paranoid. Suddenly, a large KA-BOOM! reached Kharl's ears and he stumbled from his booth to the outside and saw many people fleeing in terror. But Kharl was not watching them. He was watching the red and black big top ablaze, a large fire strewn across the top and burning all around. There were a few screams from inside.

'Oh no! Maamoon!' thought Kharl as he raced inside the burning big top, not thinking of his own safety. Inside some smoke fumes created a thin haze but Kharl could see a scene before him that seemed to shock yet amaze him. On one side of the ring stood Boris the Ringmaster and Cassandra the Lion Tamer with Crassus glaring at Armand, Ratanah and Shakra. Boris had a bomb out and looked ready to ignite it, Crassus had his trusty large hammer and Cassandra had her whip, her feline claws at the ready as back up. Armand looked ready to rumble, his own wolf claws out and gnashing his teeth at the three Freaks performers. Ratanah took an Indian attack stance and Shakra held a large sword.

"What do you three think you are doing, interrupting our show?" asked Boris in fury, his lip curled back in a sneer.

"We are in protest against the way you treat your animals. Your circus deserves to be burnt to the ground in order to give back to Mother Nature," shouted back Ratanah with as much anger in her voice.

With great enthusiasm, the two sides ran at each other, battling it out inside the burning big top.

Armand and Cassandra clashed together, after Cassandra lashed out with her whip but it only made the werewolf flinch before going on with his attack. He snapped his jaws at Cassandra, gnashing his teeth as she dodged out of the way. Being a professional at dodging lions when they attacked, it was obvious Cassandra knew what she was doing. Ratanah faced Crassus as the maniacal clown was laughing cruelly. Crassus ran forward and raised his hammer to flatten the Indian woman. Ratanah stayed where she was, holding her ground as the hammer came smashing down only to be stopped in its tracks by being caught by Ratanah's beefy but muscular arms.

Shakra faced Boris. The two stared daggers at each other for a moment as if daring the other to strike first. Rubbing his black moustache in thought, Boris suddenly took a match from his sleeve and set it alight on the side of his face. Without flinching, Boris ignited the fuse on his bomb.

"This should teach you turncoat to dare come back here and ruin my show!" enraged Boris as he deftly flung the lit bomb in the direction of Shakra.

Cassandra was having problems. She tried to lash out with her whip again after dodging Armand tried to bite her but Armand caught the whip and twisted it around his arm, yanking Cassandra forward. With a right hook, Armand sent Cassandra sprawling backwards nearby Boris.

Ratanah meanwhile hefted a hold of the hammer end and started flinging Crassus from side to side, leaving the clown with faded make-up and a busted red nose. She flung the clown away and he also landed beside Boris next to Cassandra. Boris sneered in contempt at his two members of the Freaks Circus.

"I am very disappointed in you two, can't you get anything right?" asked Boris, losing concentration.

This was what Shakra had been waiting for. In those several seconds he hefted the huge sword and turned it to the side, then swung at the lit bomb that was coming his way straight back to Boris and his two henchmen. Boris glanced back, only in time to see the bomb flying back towards him as it rolled to his feet.

"No! This cannot be!" enraged Boris before the lit bomb reached the end of it's wick and a big blast was heard which sent the three Freaks soaring up into the air and through a section of the tent roof.

Having dealt with the menace of Freaks Circus, the three members of Roots Activists Group trudged on their way out before the whole tent would cave in. Kharl had watched all this, he had wanted to intervene but he could do nothing but watch as the three circus mates were blown away from the bomb blast and the three Roots members left the burning building on the other side of the circus tent. Kharl then returned to his senses. He had to see if Maamoon was all right. But what Kharl saw next devastated him and made his heart practically sink to the floor. In front of Kharl, behind the bleachers of the big top that was still ablaze, was Maamoon. She looked peaceful yet her suit was slightly burnt and singed with ash. Her pale skin smudged with soot. She appeared to be lying down, not moving.

"Maamoon!" shouted out Kharl, fear gripping his chest as he stumbled over to the unmoving figure.

Hefting her body up, Kharl fled the burning big top and just in the nick of time because the main pole suddenly collapsed and the whole tent caved in after Kharl dived out of the burning wreckage while shielding Maamoon in his arms as best he could. Kharl did not look at the remainder of the circus go up in flames nor did he hear the distant sirens of the Rescue crew that were coming to put out the fire. Kharl's only concern was Maamoon. Gently putting her down, Kharl watched as he face limply fell to the side. With a delicate touch as he cupped her silken face in his bandaged hand, Kharl felt the tears well up in his eyes as he tried to gently rouse her awake.

"Come on, my dearest. Maamoon, wake up, please!" shouted out Kharl but there was no response. Her body was now cold. Maamoon the Magnificent Trapeze Artist, Kharl's destined one to be is dead.

Crying out and unleashing a howl of fury, Kharl let go of Maamoon's face as he raised his fists high to the full moon in unbridled anger. After letting his suffering out, Kharl cried as he gently held the woman he had loved in his arms. But Kharl's grief could not even be fully expressed. A bright light came from across the way, near the circus entrance. Kharl shielded his eyes as the light washed over him and drew closer.

"I got a survivor over here!" exclaimed the voice of the figure that was holding the flashlight.

A few more shapely figures joined the other one as they came towards Kharl. Kharl knew the group. They were the Rescue Squad, dedicated members of the Rescue Clan that helped those in need. But Kharl knew if they saw Maamoon with him, they'd take him away as a suspect. Maybe this would not happen, but Kharl was so used to people thinking it was his fault that Kharl became paranoid. Kharl gently let go of Maamoon and stood up, his back hunched over slightly. His size probably intimidated the Rescue Squad for a few seconds because they stopped walking. And before they knew it, Kharl stumbled along, running like a monkey to the chain link fence that led to the sewers of the town. Climbing over the fence and ignoring the cries from those behind him, Kharl climbed over the fence and fled into the marshland that was also known as the sewer system. Trudging for who knew how long throughout the stinky marshland, Kharl decided to hide out in a sewer tunnel outlet and made his way into the round tunnel.

Stopping after walking a few feet, Kharl panted to catch his breath as he waited to hear if anybody was following him. After a few moments of silence besides the sound of wildlife and the trickle of sewer water, Kharl felt he was safe and sat down, hunched against the wall of the sewer. He cried for ten minutes, he still could not believe his beloved Maamoon was dead. Suddenly his tears of sorrow turned to tears of rage as Kharl knew who was responsible for this catastrophe was the Roots Activists Group.

"I swear, by all that is Freaky or Outlandish, I swear to the great ringmasters in the sky, I shall not rest until each and every Roots Activists Group member is dead!" stated Kharl profoundly as he stood up as best he could in the sewer tunnel.

Kharl's voice reverberated around him and made a nearby rodent flee in terror. Kharl had stayed the night in the sewer tunnel. He knew he could do nothing right now, besides the Roots Activists Group would probably be expecting an attack. Slowly opening his eyes, Kharl stood up from his dishevelled state. He had slept in an uncomfortable position but his contortionist body paid no heed to it. He had slept in smaller and more uncomfortable positions.

Lightly cracking his neck, Kharl stood up and slowly made his way out of the sewer system. The sun was in the sky and Kharl had to shield his eyes with one of his bandaged hands slightly. It was the morning of a new day and Kharl knew the first thing he would do…revenge. Unknown to Kharl, the marshland stretched near the beach of Clint City, a sandy shore that had the waves crashing in lightly upon the sandy beach. As Kharl reached beyond the marshland to the fence that separated these two worlds, Kharl gazed out at the sea with wonder. Kharl did not know much about the sea. Having used to be a vampire's servant and then travelling with the Freaks, Kharl was not able to see much of the world.

After gazing at the sea for a while, Kharl regained his senses and looked around. There appeared to be nobody around. With athletic grace, Kharl hopped over the fence with one hand on the top of the railing and landed safely on the beach dune on his feet whilst in a squatting position. Being anxious, Kharl glanced around once more but only the sound of the waves reached his ears. Standing up and shuffling along the sand, Kharl faced the sea in all its glory and wonder. Kharl was so busy admiring the sea that he didn't notice the presence of anybody else until he heard a voice.

"Well, lads, what do we have here then?" asked a stuck-up yet smooth male voice.

Kharl turned in surprise and gazed at the perfection of a muscular guy with blonde hair that was wearing a football jersey and wearing sunglasses. He was not alone either. Beside the guy was a girl with pink hair in a cheerleader outfit. To the side and hovering in the background were two other guys, one wearing a soccer jersey and shorts and the other in an ice cream getup.

"Looks to me like we got ourselves a freak, Chad," stated the guy in the ice cream getup and laughed in a geek-like fashion.

"Shut up, Jim" stated the guy dressed in soccer gear to the guy in ice cream getup who was called Jim.

"Oh yeah? Make me Striker," stated Jim sourly.

"Dudes, you should chill," said the girl with pink hair.

"Yeah, chill out, guys. Freak, you know this land?" asked Chad Bread to Kharl after telling Striker and Jim to give it a rest.

Kharl watched as the two stopped bickering. Apparently this Chad person was not a guy to mess with.

"I don't know," muttered Kharl but Chad Bread interrupted him.

"This beach is ours. And no bandaged freak like you is going to surf in our turf!" snarled Chad Bread, his grin turning into a scowl.

Before Kharl knew it, he was jumped by the three jocks, being accosted and beaten to a pulp by Chad Bread as his two goons held onto Kharl so he could not get away. The girl looked concerned but did not intervene, maybe because she was too scared.

"Freaks are not allowed on my beach!" spat out Chad Bread in between punches to Kharl's face.

Kharl was helpless to this assault, he felt useless as Chad Bread stopped punching him and Striker and Jim let the bloody Kharl drop to the sand.

"Come on, let's get out of here," muttered Chad Bread before spitting on Kharl and leaving with his goons and the concerned girl with pink hair.

Kharl watched them leave and slowly stood up once he knew they were gone. Kharl had been in much worse fights then this, though technically he never did fight and the other people used to just beat him up for the sake of it and because he was a Freak. Lightly sniffing and brushing the blood that was coming from his busted up nose, Kharl turned in fear as another voice was heard from behind him.

"Don't let them get to you, mate. Chad Bread and his pals are just dumb jocks that hate people who are different," said a man of small stature that had brown skin and black hair. He smiled sympathetically to Kharl.

Kharl did not respond. He did not trust anyone right now.

"The name's Wee Lee, by the way. My real name is Harvey Lee. But they mostly call me Wee Lee around here," stated the man who introduced himself as Wee Lee. "So, you got any place to go tidy up?"

Kharl was still cautious but shook his head slightly.

Wee Lee seemed to be in thought after Kharl replied non-verbally that he had nowhere to go.

"Well, that's a shame. But I know of a place. It's just along the beach, come on!" remarked Wee Lee and started running up the beach.

Kharl hesitated for a second, watching Wee Lee run ahead of him. Though small in stature, Wee Lee was fast. Kharl smiled faintly as best he could before his sore face started to ache and slowly clambered along, following Wee Lee.

After walking for a few minutes up the shore of the beach, Kharl saw what appeared to be a run-down beach shack. Wee Lee ran ahead of Kharl.

"Come on!" urged Wee Lee, shouting back to Kharl as he stopped in front of the door.

Kharl clambered along until he was beside Wee Lee and Wee Lee knocked on the door.

Opening the door was the pretty face of a brown-haired white woman in her middle age with an apron around her midriff over a dress.

"Hello, Lee. Who's this with you?" asked the woman.

"This is my new mate Kharl. He needs a place to stay. Do you mind, Bree?" asked Wee Lee to the woman he called Bree.

It was at this time Bree seemed to look properly at Kharl and a touch of concern crossed her face.

"Oh my! You are hurt, you poor dear," said Bree sincerely and reached out to touch the side of Kharl's face.

Kharl winced as Bree gently clasped his cheek for it was still sore. Bree seemed to sense this and deftly drew back her hand again.

"Lee, what happened to him?" she asked, glancing from Kharl to Wee Lee.

"What else? Chad Bread," explained Wee Lee simply.

Bree seemed to shake her head slightly in anger, balling up her fists.

"Oh, that Chad Bread just gets me so angry. Walking around as if he is King of the Beach! I assure you if Tanaereva was here…"

"Tanaereva has not been seen in years. If he were to come back, he would have come back earlier," grunted Wee Lee with a sour note in his voice. "Are you going to stand there yapping or let the poor guy in?"

"Of course, sorry," said Bree sheepishly and stood to the side, ushering in Kharl.

Kharl entered the small shack and glanced around. It looked slightly smaller on the outside but inside it was decent enough to live in. But then again, Kharl mostly was crammed into spaces less decent then this so it overwhelmed Kharl slightly.

Wee Lee followed after Kharl had entered, Bree shutting the door behind her and then she led Kharl to a couch.

"Make yourself comfy, I'll go get some medical supplies," Bree said while smiling and left Kharl on the couch as Wee Lee sat in a wooden chair.

Bree walked out of the room and disappeared into a room at the back.

"She seems nice," said Kharl, the first words he uttered since meeting up with Wee Lee.

Wee Lee was slightly surprised at the deep voice of Kharl but the tone was one of calmness.

"Yeah, she's not that bad a surfer too," stated Wee Lee with a smirk.

Kharl seemed to sense something in Wee Lee that was new to Kharl ever since…Maamoon was still alive. Kharl bowed his head slightly for it was still hard to think about her.

Wee Lee seemed to sense something was wrong.

"Are you okay, man? Do you need help?" asked Wee Lee in a concerned voice.

"No, I'm fine," muttered Kharl. Though he wasn't really fine, Kharl knew he had to say something else unless Wee Lee would be suspicious. "I just never figured out why you and Bree are so kind to me."

Wee Lee seemed to dwell on this for a fraction of a second as if it was obvious, which it was to him at least. But maybe his new friend was slow on the uptake.

"Why, of course we are kind to you! Why wouldn't we be?" asked out Wee Lee with a mild tone of surprise in his voice.

Kharl seemed to forget he only said it as an excuse and glanced up at Wee Lee.

"Well, because I'm a Freak," muttered Kharl in reply, a concerned half-frown on his face.

"Listen, Kharl, if you had not noticed, I'm not exactly "normal" either. But I don't let that get me down. I mean, half the people in Clint City are Freaks!" stated Wee Lee profoundly. "There is no reason to feel alone in this world Kharl because you are different. We are all different in our own quirky way and don't let anybody bring you down for just being different."

Wee Lee seemed very passionate about it and Kharl probably knew why. It stood to reason by just looking at the scars on Wee Lee that he was probably teased as a kid. Kharl did not feel the need to respond but merely nodded, not wanting to say anything stupid after that good advice. At this time Bree had returned and treated Kharl's injuries with some first aid expertise.

"There, you'll be fine after a few hours," announced Bree as she went over to Wee Lee and draped her arm over the chair back Wee Lee was sitting on.

The two looked and smiled at Kharl, a friendly smile that Kharl never thought possible. These were his friends, his real friends. The circus was a vague memory to Kharl. The only reminder of it as he spent his days in the shack and on the beach was that whenever he looked up at the moon he sees images of his dearest Maamoon in all her glory upon the trapeze ring. Maybe someday he would exact his revenge but until that day, he was momentarily happy being with his newfound friends.

The End Of Part 1


End file.
